An alleged armed robber bit off more than he could chew Monday when he attempted to rob a Gilmer County, Georgia, convenience store. As it turned out, all three of the store’s customers were armed with their own weapons.
Local police report 39-year-old Shawn Sutton entered the store and acted as if he was purchasing an energy drink.
Meanwhile, his 39-year-old wife, Melody Sutton, was waiting in the getaway car outside.
After Sutton chose a drink, police report that he grabbed a pair of women’s panties he had wrapped around his neck and pulled them up over his face.
At that point the report says he went behind the counter, produced a .45 caliber pistol, and pointed it at the clerk’s head demanding money.
He picked the wrong state and wrong time to attempt his heist.
Three customers were present at the convenience store, and all three were exercising their Second Amendment freedoms. It is also noteworthy that Georgia is an open carry state.
Police say one customer removed his concealed firearm to thwart the robbery. A second customer exited to retrieve his own pistol from his vehicle, and a third who was pumping gas saw the commotion and armed himself to assist.
Sutton apparently decided then that his best course of action was to flee, but the third customer who had been pumping gas ran to stop him.
The alleged armed robber had already been disarmed, and the first customer in the store yelled for the other two men not to shoot.
The Ellijay Police Department released a statement revealing that an officer arrived on the scene just after the third armed civilian pursued the suspect.
The responding officer ordered Sutton to the ground, but he refused. He was then tased and decided to comply with the command.
Sutton is being held without bond in the Gilmer County Adult Center. He is charged with armed robbery, aggravated assault, and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon.
His wife was also taken into custody, but charges against her, if any were filed, have not been made public.
Once again, the Second Amendment along with a state’s open carry law results in a violent act being stopped. The suspect undoubtedly expected to encounter little of any resistance from the store clerk as well as any bystanders.
His allegedly pointing his weapon at the employee’s head is all the proof needed that this incident could have produced a bitterly tragic ending.
Instead, good guys with guns intervened. There should be nothing but praise for the three private citizens who not only exercised their right to be armed but had the courage to stand up and defend the innocent.
All the freedoms in the world mean little if anything if ordinary citizens do not have the bravery to do what is right.
Too many times the public falls for the mainstream media narrative that guns are instruments of violence and destruction.
Look around. So much of what surrounds us may be used for harm if a criminal has evil intentions, and the gun should not be blamed any more than the knife or vehicle or anything else used to hurt others.
The Founding Fathers saw fit to enshrine precious liberties within the Constitution and Bill of Rights to ensure they could not be infringed upon by a tyrannical government. Right alongside freedoms of speech, assembly, the press and so many others are the rights to keep and bear arms, but those rights are now being threatened.
In Gilmer County, Georgia, on Monday night, it was clearly shown just how important it is to defend all our freedoms. Good guys stepped to the forefront to stop a bad guy with bad intentions, and the incident ended without harm to the innocent.
